Love Is on the Air
by Cescalia
Summary: Different one-shots of Adrien and Marinette meeting through various dating game shows.
1. The Dating Game

How did Marinette get dragged into competing in a dating show, she had no idea. She blamed Alya, but honestly, she had felt a bit curious as well.

Apparently, it was about time she left the house , got over her old crush on Adrien and stopped comparing every potential date with him. She couldn't help it that she didn't want anyone else, but Adrien had unfortunately been too engaged in his modelling work since they left school.

The introduction only said that if she got picked to the show, she would have been one of the three options for the unknown mystery guy to choose from. He wouldn't see her, only hear her voice, and vice versa. The one he liked best, based on shared interests and random questions, he would pick as his date. The reversed and same sex alternatives of the show were just as popular.

Of course the format was overused, but Alya insisted and even if she didn't want to admit it, just maybe it was time to give someone else a chance. Even if it was through a dumb media channel, a show aired to the thousands of viewers.

The bachelor might not even pick her, so it wouldn't hurt to try. Hopefully, she wasn't going to make a fool of herself.

He was supposedly in the early or mid twenties, involved in fashion business and hated cheese, especially Camembert - this was all the information she was provided with.

Marinette really didn't know what to think of that. Well, if she somehow won, they would at least have something to talk about, as she was currently designing and interning under various smaller fashion houses. He was around her age, which was a plus.

The backstage was filled with people, but she was yet to meet her fellow competitors. As she stepped in the room, she was ushered to sit on one of the three stools set in a line in front of a wall.

The showrunners hadn't revealed the guy's name, of course. The bachelorettes had their own nicknames to make the show as interesting and anonymous as possible.

Her name was Kitty Cat, from all the possibilities. When she had first been addressed, her cheeks flushed in embarrassment, she hoped that Chat Noir wouldn't find out about it or she would never hear the end of it.

The other two women were named Honey Bee and Fluffy Fox. Who the heck had come up with those ridiculous names, she had no idea.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng," Marinette's back straightened as she heard the cringeworthy familiar voice. What was Chloé doing on a dating show? She rolled her eyes at the blonde, who sat on the stool farthest from her. The middle one was empty.

Surprisingly, Chloé, or Honey Bee, didn't utter anything else to her and sat in silence. Three minutes until the start and the woman entering the room, long hair flowing behind, sat on the remaining seat. Lila Rossi. What was that? High school reunion?

For the next few minutes they were introduced to the basic rules and restrictions while answering the questions with additional details about the camera angles. Nothing ground-breaking.

"Showtime. Three, two, one," a voice echoed in the studio.

"Good evening! Welcome to The Dating Game, today we have a young handsome bachelor joining us to find his dream date from our three ladies: Honey Bee, Fluffy Fox and Kitty Cat. Each one of them gets one question asked by our bachelor and based on the answers and extremely short introductions, he has to choose the one, who would accompany him to the date. Let's begin!"

Marinette tried to keep her smile gentle and not burst from the nervousness as the cameras were already rolling, although she had to answer last. Each of them was given a headset, so she didn't hear the guy's voice nor Chloé's and Lila's answers, until it was her turn.

"Our last, but not the least lovely lady is a woman of many talents, she loves the faint breeze of the wind in the nighttime Paris, the feeling of accomplishment and Ultimate Mecha Strike IV extra levels. Nice to meet you, Kitty Cat!" the showrunner exclaimed.

She was asked to write her introductory piece as vague as possible, so she couldn't mention her hobbies, but she hoped it was interesting and informative enough. She refused to lose to Chloé and Lila, even if the guy turned out to be a major jerk.

"Kitty Cat, _paw_ some name, I must say, I like you already! My question _fur_ you: If you had the chance to correct one of your past mistakes without changing the past completely, what would it be?"

Marinette's heart was thumping wildly in her chest. This was Chat's voice. She was absolutely sure of it, as if the cat puns weren't enough torture during their meetings. She might go on a date with Chat Noir. With his civilian identity. They hadn't revealed their identities after defeating Hawkmoth, but they still met up for occasional patrols. She was so screwed, but she had to suck it up and face the music.

"Uhm...nothing. The mistakes I've done, have been part of my growth. If I hadn't made them, I wouldn't be who I am now, I wouldn't have learnt to trust others and I wouldn't have found strength to overcome my insecurities."

What if Chat recognized her as Ladybug? She was in deep trouble and she couldn't even escape as it was all recorded on the video tape.

"Thank you," he said breathlessly.

She didn't hear anything else. Now she had to wait until he chose one of the three by calling out the other two. This was it.

Lila stood up with a scowl on her face and walked to the front of the studio to meet the mysterious bachelor. Then Chloé. _He chose_ _her_.

In few minutes, the crew asked her to go meet him. She wasn't sure if she was gliding over the floor or wobbled, her legs threatened to give up under her weight.

A blond hair came to the view, stylish but casual outfit, face behind a mask. She nearly froze in place as Adrien's wide eyes slid over her, a shy but bright smile curled around his lips.

The formalities were passed, she didn't even realize her mouth had been moving or any of the sound coming out of it. She was too floored about the revelation that Adrien was Chat Noir and he had picked her out in the dating show, while Lila and Chloé were her rivals. It was too surreal to be true.

The show was over. Her hand was sweating in Adrien's, wait, when did he took hold of her hand? They were alone and he was looking at her as if she single-handedly placed the stars in the sky.

"It was always you."

She didn't dare to look away, nor did she want to. Shyly, she brushed strands of her hair behind her ear with the hand that was not secured in Adrien's. He was rubbing his thumb gently over her knuckles, prompting her to say something that wasn't just incoherent screaming.

"H-how did you know?"

"Your voice, but when I heard your full answer, I was completely sure,"

"I don't understand. I didn't say anything that might have revealed my identity," Marinette tried to remember her answer to his question, but she was certain it had been quite imprecise.

"I think you underestimate me, my lady," her heart skipped a beat at Chat's nickname through Adrien's lips,"I have known you for a nearly a decade."

"Are you disappointed?"

"Of course not! Are...Are you? Disappointed? That it's me?"

"No, not in the least." The relief on his face was apparent and the grin was back.

"So, I can finally take you out on a date, _buginette_ ," Marinette groaned, but couldn't stop her correspondent smile.

"Ten years of waiting, I have to say I admire your persistence, _chaton_. And don't call me buginette."

"Do you prefer _Kitty Cat_?" They both burst out laughing, still holding their hands in each other's tight grip, not intending to let go.


	2. Take Me Out

Marinette stood with twenty nine other women who were all waiting for a chance to get on a date with some random guy. Every one of them was standing behind a table on which lay the red buzzer. If you pushed it, the light illuminating the table would switch off, signing that you were not interested in going out with the bachelor.

She was bored to the core as all the guys, who had entered the room so far, had been disappointments. Was it so difficult for them to clean up for once and wear something other than gym clothes? Not to mention their stalking tendencies and clingy ex-girlfriends.

They had been filming for a whole day, so she couldn't wait to go home and forget that she even competed in the show.

"Are you ready? Here comes the boy!" exclaimed the showrunner, annoying balding guy.

The door lifted and Marinette prayed for someone decent, so she wouldn't have to turn off her light that quickly. She swayed a little and almost stumbled onto her table as she saw that the one who entered the show room was none other than Adrien Agreste.

The crowd clapped and Marinette gaped. He had surely grown up well. She hadn't seen him for a few years, but all the advertisements reminded her of his existence.

"Are you turned on or turned off?"

Surely, no one would turn their light off after seeing that literal supermodel had gone on a dating show to take one of the lucky ladies out. The show needed to boost their ratings after all. Surprisingly, one had turned her light off.

"Twenty-nine beautiful ladies want to go on a date with you!" said the showrunner Paul Duval and walked to the woman with short black hair who had pressed the red buzzer. "Gisèle, why did you turn your light off?"

"I'm just not attracted to blondes."

Marinette had to hold back her snort, some people were just too shallow. Paul exchanged some other words with the woman and walked across the room, towards where Marinette was standing. He stopped few tables away.

"What do you see in our man?"

The really young-looking woman answered enthusiastically, gushing about Adrien's good looks. She often tuned out what others said about the contestant, because she didn't want her opinion to be influenced by other women.

"Why is your light still shining, Nicole?" Paul asked another woman, this time the one with pale freckled skin and wild red hair.

"He's gorgeous, what else is there to say?"

Paul Duval spoke with Adrien, requesting him to introduce himself.

"I'm Adrien Agreste. I'm a model and have been since I was a child. I love to play video games and I love to eat sweets, although I can never have as many as I want due to my job. I can fence and play the piano. I'm also fluent in Mandarin." The public cheered.

"Thank you, Adrien! Let's see what the girls are saying about you!"

Only few lights went off after his introductory speech and the competition was still going strong. She turned to look at Adrien after hearing one woman sigh at Adrien's model career, only to realize halfway that his eyes were fixed on her. Did he recognize her from school?

After graduating collège, Adrien's father had him back to home-schooling as his schedule was getting tighter with him growing up even more gorgeous. Every magazine wanted him on their spreads.

Marinette became aware that her hands were shaking. He looked away just before they started playing a video, in which his friends described him and his dating habits. A relief washed over her as his model colleagues spoke of him as humble and kind, but hardworking.

She saw few lights turning off at those statements. To her surprise, Nino spoke in the video as well, remembering their school years and how they had fell out of touch, but sometimes still met up. Marinette blushed when Nino mentioned that the only woman Adrien had ever talked about in romantic sense was Ladybug.

"We lost 12 girls, but 18 are still in a game! Let's get out there and see what these ladies didn't like!" announced Paul happily and went to ask the remaining girls for their reasons, why they were still interested or why not. He hadn't asked her anything yet.

"When does he have time for me!" short curly haired woman whined.

"I just feel like if he hasn't really been in a serious relationship before, his standards are probably high, no one can compete with Ladybug anyway," another one said.

Paul strutted across the room towards Adrien and put his palm on his shoulder. "I give you 30 seconds to impress our remaining girls. Ladies, stay away from your buzzers until I tell you to vote!"

To Marinette's astonishment, instead of showing off some of his many talents, Adrien started telling jokes – puns, to be exact. She already got enough of them from Chat and now Adrien, too?

Well, it wasn't a dealbreaker by any means. If she could put up with Chat's puns, which were not actually all bad, then she could deal with Adrien. Her light would stay on as long as Adrien didn't push the button in front of her himself.

"Seven gone and eleven people left, this means, you got a date! Turn out nine lights and leave two. Go and break people's hearts. You have to narrow it down to two! Audience, what do you think?"

The public was roaring and giving Adrien directions which girl should stay and who should leave. Adrien was going from table to table, switching off lights in front of hopeful women with apologetic expression.

He didn't even look at her direction, steering away from her table. Her heart had never pounded as loudly in her chest as it was right now.

"One more light!"

After he turned off the last light – the girl pouting – Marinette realized that she stayed in the competition with another woman who had her brown hair in a braid, stylish glasses sitting on her nose and who seemed to be jumping on her place from anticipation.

The balding showrunner approached her table, his wide grin almost reaching his ears.

"Marinette, why didn't you turn off your light before? Why would Adrien choose you?"

Her mind turned blank as she tried not to stare at Adrien who was tilting his head and peered at her curiously.

"I used to be in collège with Adrien," the public started chattering excitedly, "I knew him then and I had nothing bad to say about him. I see that he has only changed for better. I would love to get an opportunity to go on a date with him." She glanced at Adrien, who flushed red from the praise.

Paul Duval asked the same question from her opponent, who couldn't stop saying how amazing Adrien was.

"Adrien, you can now ask one question and one only from the two you left in the competition. Go ahead!"

Adrien looked at Marinette and the other woman, Rébecca, separately.

"What would our date be like to make it perfect?" he addressed Rébecca first.

Her eyes were glistening with happiness. "Romantic dinner with candle light, we would eat the most delicious food and there would be music playing just for the two of us, we are _completely_ alone. I think it's perfect, because of the atmosphere,which creates the right mood for the date."

"And Marinette, how do you imagine our perfect date?"

She bit her lip and tried not to look away from his intense gaze. "It can be sitting on the roof and talking with each other or heck, even playing video games and I would still think every single date is perfect, as long as I'm with you."

Adrien smiled warmly and Marinette couldn't ignore how her cheeks felt warm from his attention. She believed that her answer had accidentally become personal.

Paul proceeded to thank both of them for their answers and granted permission for Adrien to choose his date.

"Turn one off and we'll see who will go on a date! Who are you going to take out tonight?"

The studio public started yelling Marinette's and Rébecca's names, trying to persuade Adrien to choose the woman for their liking. Adrien looked at Marinette for few seconds and then walked towards Rébecca's table and pressed the buzzer, engulfing her table into darkness.

"Congratulations, Adrien and Marinette!" Paul ushered Marinette to the front of the room, next to Adrien. She was blown away by the cheers from the audience and the look on Adrien's face, expressing his joy to stand there with her.

"So, you chose your childhood friend. I have to admit, it is a wonderful twist of fate. I'm sure you will enjoy your date fully. I have a question to you though, Adrien. Did seeing Marinette here in the lineup with all the other amazing ladies influence your decision? In other words, did any of the other women even have a chance or was this a lost cause from the beginning?"

"I wouldn't say that. I considered every single one of them, who I'm sure are great and will make someone really happy in the future. But, I have always been curious about Marinette. I'm glad that I chose her."

He held her hand and smiled gently.

"I hope you don't find this awkward." He whispered in her ear.

Not at all.


	3. Are You the One?

**Week 1**

The first week in the house was a huge mess. It was logical to think that they should all sit in one place and get to know each other first. Your perfect match could have been any of the ten, you couldn't just let the physical attraction guide you. Of course, no one really cared about that. Get wasted and snag the hottest girl to hook up with – most of the guys' way of direction.

It wasn't _that_ bad, but close to it. Having not been used to such parties, as it affected his reputation – in his father's words –, Adrien didn't really care for casual relationships. He actually came to the show to establish a connection with his match. Regarding the situation in hand, it seemed unlikely.

Chloé, a woman from a wealthy background, her father was supposedly the mayor of the city she came from – she liked to proclaim it a lot –, was latching onto him constantly, which prevented anyone else getting near to him. Her set of values absolutely didn't match his, but he couldn't say no, maybe she actually was her match. He should at least explore the option. You could find something in common with anyone.

A cup of the cocktail – a guy named Théo mixed it for everyone – in her hand, Chloé had her other hand hooked around his arm, trying to keep a hold on him and herself at the same time.

"Adrien, you're my match, I'm hundred per cent sure of it. All the other guys here are losers! Complete losers!"

Slurred speech indicating that she had drunk way beyond her limit and her blonde hair that was sticky with alcohol getting all over the place, it was hard to push her away from him, but somehow he managed.

Chloé pouted from the loss of the warm body against her and slouched on the floor. Adrien sighed and went to the pool where most of the crowd was dancing to the music beats. The cameras were rolling, but used to the attention since he was a child, they didn't bother him.

At the pool, there was another obstacle. He could swore, the rest of the house was not mental, just these two girls that were obsessed with him and the thought that he was their perfect match. He seriously doubted it.

Lila stood up – previously having been sitting in the lap of Nathanaël, who hadn't even realized Lila had been there – and hopped towards Adrien. Getting past her was impossible, on one side of the narrow pathway was the wall and on other side there was a pool. Then again...

Loud whoops of joy and encouragement echoed in the air right after the bystanders heard and saw fully clothed Adrien jumping into the pool. One of the shouts might have been for a different reason, because rising back onto the surface he was no longer the only one unsuited for a swim in the pool.

"You, ass! Why did you do that?"

The woman with black hair and magnificent blue eyes stared at him with annoyed and angry look. He believed her name was Marinette, but he wasn't sure about it. Apparently, he had accidentally pulled in Marinette as well, when he had jumped.

Not his intention at all, especially because as she climbed out of the pool, wet dress clinging to her skin, she never looked back.

 **Week 2**

They got two beams of light, which meant that in last night's line-up there were only two pairs sitting together that were perfect matches.

It was girls' pick this time, and consequently, he had to sit with Chloé. Getting two beams had her currently convinced that they were one of the lights. He almost wished for a blackout to prove her wrong. It might not stop her actions though, since in some seasons the no-match couples refused to split up.

Excluding Chloé and Lila, others were much more sensible and pleasant to be around. Kim was all over the place, but he would much rather bear his arrogant comments to the former two.

There weren't any strong couples in the house yet. He couldn't tell if it was a good or a bad thing; they didn't get a perfect match in truth booth, so the connections could have been based on mostly attraction for now.

He noticed that Nino, the guy who slept in the bed next to his, always tried to be close to that girl Marinette, who he had pissed off. Nino advised him to talk to her, since he didn't tolerate bad blood between people in the house, but she was really good at avoiding him.

At first, he decided to choose Marinette as his date if he won the challenge. But now, seeing Nino, who had proposed to go talk with her in his stead, getting along really well with Marinette, Adrien couldn't stab him in the back. Nino was really into her. Maybe it was a perfect match.

Marinette won the challenge, he noticed that she was extremely competitive, and she picked Nino. To support his friend, he voted them to truth booth with the rest of the people.

"Let's hope, they are a match. We need to figure out the two beams from last week!" said pink haired girl named Alix.

"They didn't even sit together last week!" Alya, a good friend of Marinette, kept up with the latest changes of relationships, to help the house to figure out the perfect matches.

The screen showed 'NO MATCH!'. He couldn't explain why he felt relieved by that.

Nino and Marinette came back to the house, shrugging their shoulders, while others comforted them, but there was no need. They had already reached the conclusion that they didn't have any romantic feelings toward each other anyway.

Adrien made his way over to them and turned to Marinette.

"Can I talk to you?" Marinette's brows furrowed, but she accepted the offer.

Although it was impossible to be out of the audibility of everyone, they found a quieter place to talk.

"I didn't mean to drag you in with me into the pool. I wasn't even ready to jump myself, but I was kind of forced to do so, I didn't really want to talk to Lila at the moment. I hope you understand."

Marinette's expression didn't change, but she appeared to be searching his face to make sure he was sincere.

"I know, Nino told me," he would have lied, if he said he didn't breathe a sigh of relief. "Don't trust Lila, everything that comes out of her mouth is a lie."

She turned around, but stumbled on a step that she hadn't seen. Thankfully, he caught her before she fell.

"It might be too early to go around falling for me in her place." It was automatic response and he wanted to hit himself on the head, because Marinette might not have been the type to take jokes lightly.

She laughed. Wholeheartedly. And he was relieved that he hadn't messed up a relationship, which could possibly result in a perfect match.

 **Week 3**

Three beams. No match (Kim and Lila).

 **Week 4**

Two beams. Perfect match (Sabrina and Max).

 **Week 5**

Two beams. No match (Marinette and Nathanaël).

 **Week 6**

Four beams. Perfect match (Alya and Nino).

 **Week 7**

Nino and Alya had been set on the idea to get Adrien and Marinette in the truth booth, before they left to the honeymoon suite. Chloé and Lila of course opposed the idea and did everything in their power to get him to the truth booth with one of them.

Playing fair and in accordance with others at this point should have been more important than to push one's own agenda, but some people just didn't care. He was certain that they hadn't come to the show for money nor love, but just for the media attention.

Marinette wasn't so keen on the idea as well, she was more open to him since he explained himself, but she stuttered a lot and seemed to be uncomfortable in his presence. Maybe his previous actions still bothered her.

He won the challenge by chance. The game was based on answering questions about the girls in the house and although he didn't get all of them right, he was tied for the spot of the date with three others and he had been the fastest.

Picking Marinette was an easy choice. They needed to improve; it wasn't good for a team to only have four beams in week six. The thought of being a perfect match with Marinette made his stomach uneasy. It wasn't a bad thought, but _strange_.

Swinging a rope over a waterfall. Adrien certainly didn't expect that kind of activity for their date. Marinette continued being timid around him, but she had loosened up, because neither Chloé nor Lila was around.

"I want to go first." Adrien gestured for her to take in the position.

Her hands grasped at the rope and when she looked up at Adrien, her eyes seemed to sparkle. He gently wrapped his fingers around her tense hand, that had turned almost white, because she gripping the rope so tightly. She was excited, but also apprehensive.

"Good luck, I'll be right behind you." He smiled and then she took off, laughing and screaming simultaneously. Adrien grabbed another rope when he saw that she had almost arrived on the ground on the other side and jumped into the air to follow her.

It was a euphoric feeling that didn't stop when he reached the spot where Marinette was waiting for him. He must have estimated the distance between the rocks wrong, because he let go of the rope too late and crashed into Marinette who fell on the ground, Adrien on top of him. At least his reflects softened the impact with the ground for her, when he unintentionally wrapped his arms around her back.

"Are you falling for me now?"

He watched her gaze curiously shift between his eyes and lips, while he was trying to comprehend what she had just said. Without further thought, he leaned in and kissed her.

He didn't need to see 'PERFECT MATCH!' blinking back at them on screen in the truth booth few hours later, to know she was the one.


	4. Love Island

By the time she walked up to the villa, two girls were already there, greeting her with lovely smiles. Alya and Rose were accommodating and easily willing to chat about which attributes they were hoping for the guys to have, but before their arrival, two other girls joined them.

The next girl, Kagami seemed a little bit stand-offish at first, but Marinette soon realised that it was just her assertive personality. The last girl, Alix, was joyful and prepared for the challenges. A competitive streak was part of all the girls' personalities in the show in one way or another, otherwise they wouldn't have signed up to compete in a show that involved coupling up with multiple people.

Marinette only stepped forward for two guys, Luka and Adrien. When Luka arrived, she was attracted to his overall appearance, the bright blue hair and the personality that gave the impression that he was outgoing, assuring her that she would have great time with him whether as a friend or a romantic partner. Although most of the time the guys would have chosen the girl who actually fancied him, Luka's decision was out of the norm. He chose Kagami, who didn't seem thrilled by his abnormal action.

Adrien, the fourth guy, a gorgeous model with an attractive personality on top, prompted her, Kagami and Rose to step forward–the latter stepping forward for every single guy, because she didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. It was always an uncomfortable situation, if nobody was attracted to the new arrival and they therefore needed to pick someone who wasn't initially into them.

This time she was actually really nervous about the decision. Adrien seemed perfect, well-mannered and kind, ticking all the boxes in the dating list she pretended that didn't exist. So, when he picked her to couple up with, a weight dropped from her chest and her heart was beating slightly faster than before.

He kissed both of her cheeks and snaked his arm around her waist to comfortably stand next to her while waiting for the last guy to arrive. Marinette already knew she was not going to step forward for anyone else.

Then, Lila appeared in the picture and her mood turned downhill. The girl was from her old school, a compulsive liar, absolutely deceiving and selfish. She had once caught her out on a lie and never trusted her afterwards, which of course didn't prevent anyone else falling for her ridiculous lies. Lila got people wrapped around her finger and Marinette couldn't do anything about it without looking like she was jealous or petty.

Lila seemed to recognise her as well and gleefully smiled and played coy when the host announced she had the chance to "steal" one of the men by the end of the next day. There was no doubt in Marinette's mind–Lila was going to do her best to ruin Marinette's chances in this game.

After the arrival, Marinette sat down on the bed with Alya, Rose and their respective guys, Théo and Max–neither seemed to be keen on their partner in the game so far.

"What do you think of Lila? Do you think she'll go for you?"Alya addressed the question to the guys who shrugged and seemed nonchalant in general.

"She seems very nice and she's pretty, I guess," Max said hesitantly, most likely because Rose was sitting next to him.

"You know, I actually know Lila from high school," Marinette decided to speak up.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I recognised her instantly. She's not a good person, so take everything she says with a grain of salt. She's very manipulative."

Théo rubbed his goatee and looked to be in deep thought.

"Did you piss her off or something?"

"I just exposed her lies and she didn't take it lightly."

"Oh no, so do you think she would want Adrien for herself out of pure spite?" Rose gasped and covered her mouth with her hand.

"Certainly, if she doesn't already like him, too. Even more reasons for her to kick me out of the game. She's vindictive as hell." Marinette leaned her chin on her hand, accepting her fate that her days on the island were likely numbered.

"That must suck…you could talk to Adrien and see how well you match and how close you two can be? Maybe that would change her mind." Of course Alya would have probably preferred for Lila to go after Théo instead as she didn't seem at all attracted to him and was picked without her having any say in the matter.

"I don't know about that, on first impression he seemed to like Lila. I'll go find him." Marinette left the room in search of Adrien who lounged on the sofa, Lila already hanging off his arm. Lila didn't waste any time. One reassuring thing about it was that Adrien appeared to mind the physical contact and Lila's forwardness.

"Hey, can we talk?" Adrien looked up to her and if her eyes were not deceiving her, he was relieved to have an excuse to leave Lila's presence. Lila narrowed her eyes at her, but kept her lips sealed. Adrien smiled gently, brushed Lila's arm off and stood up to join her.

"It was nice meeting you, Lila," he said and rested his hand on Marinette's back to guide her towards the bench on the other side of the courtyard.

"How are you enjoying your stay here so far?" He asked when they had sat down once again.

"I would feel more at ease if Lila wasn't here."

He gave a chuckle. "Fair enough. She has the power to rock the boat and split one couple up."

"Not just that, I know her from a while ago. She's a liar and generally unpleasant to be around."

"Oh, really? She did seem to be bragging a lot while trying to impress me, and that comment about Jagged Stone's cat was a complete lie. I worked with Jagged once as a model, and he made a remark that he wasn't fond of cats, because his crocodile was freaked out by them."

"Yes, exactly! I thought she might have changed since high school, but it's obvious she's still keeping up the same facade of telling people what she thinks they'd like to hear. Also, Jagged having a crocodile as pet is pretty common knowledge."

"Are you worried that she will pick me tomorrow?"

Marinette nodded and Adrien sighed.

"I'll tell her not to pick me."

"I don't think it would really affect her decision. She has a personal vendetta against me."

"Worth a try." Adrien took her hand, planted a light kiss on her knuckles and went back to the house, leaving Marinette flustered and hopeful.

Lila ended up choosing Adrien next day while smugly smiling and pretending that her only motivation was that she liked Adrien the most. He reluctantly left her side and Marinette was now single again. If she didn't couple up during recoupling, her time on the island was over. Matters were made worse when they soon after got a message that there was a date arranged for Lila and Adrien.

Marinette and Adrien had been spending much more time together, trying to get to know each other better, but this was something she couldn't prevent from happening. It was a game after all and the executive decisions were out of her hands.

"I have no control over this, just remember I chose you." Adrien told her before he went on a date and she truly believed that he was not going to develop any feelings towards Lila. She just had to trust him.

As the new formed couple of Lila and Adrien couldn't be broken up during the next recoupling, Marinette held on hope that a new guy arriving to the villa or one of the ones already part of the cast would choose her and some other girl would get dumped, even if she didn't have any malicious feelings towards the rest of the girls.

To her relief, Luka switched out his original partner and selected her, so she had an opportunity to last longer in the game and reconnect with Adrien. And when the next occasion rose, she was able to do exactly that–dumping Lila in process as nobody actually wanted to couple with her.

There was no way that despite all the twists and turns and the obstacles the game threw in their way, her and Adrien were not going to try their hardest to hold onto this relationship until the end of the game and win it all.


End file.
